Common Signs of a Scam
Scams or cyber hacks don’t always look obvious.
In fact, the most effective ones are designed to feel routine, urgent, or familiar - whether they land in your work inbox or on your phone at home.
The good news? Most scams follow similar patterns. Once you know what to look for, they’re much easier to spot. That’s why we believe education is essential for every business team, as it helps reduce human error.
Go through these common signs and get yourself and your team familiar with them:
1. A sense of urgency
Scammers want you to act fast, before you have time to think.
Common phrases include:
“Immediate action required”
“Your account will be suspended”
“Final notice”
“Payment overdue”
If something is genuinely urgent, there’s usually context, history, and a real person you can contact. The pressure is a big red flag 🚩🚩🚩
2. Requests for information that don’t feel right
Legitimate organisations rarely ask you to:
confirm passwords
share login details
provide bank or card information via email or text
click a link to “verify” your account
This applies both at work and at home. When in doubt, stop and check through a trusted channel.
3. Something feels slightly off
Scam messages often look convincing at first glance, but small details don’t quite line up:
odd spelling or grammar
unusual sender addresses
links that don’t match the company name
attachments you weren’t expecting
Trust that instinct. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
4. Too good (or too bad) to be true
Scams often sit at the extremes:
unexpected refunds
prize winnings you didn’t enter
investment opportunities promising high returns
threats about legal action or account closures
Real organisations don’t operate like this.
5. It arrives out of context
A sudden invoice. A delivery notice you weren’t expecting. A message from “IT support” you didn’t contact.
Context matters. If you weren’t expecting it, pause before engaging.
A simple rule of thumb
If a message asks you to rush, click, or share information, stop and verify first.
At Netcare, we help businesses put the right systems and protections in place, so scams are easier to detect and stop, before they cause damage. But awareness is always the first layer of defence.